


Bad Little Boys

by RhyTobi



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Domestic Violence, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Murder Husbands, My First AO3 Post, Past Domestic Violence, Threats of Violence, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27868290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhyTobi/pseuds/RhyTobi
Summary: Prince Gumball and Marshall Lee Abadeer are best friends. They've been together since they were little. They only talk to each other and refuse to make other friends, no matter how much it pisses off the teachers of their school. They don't have any family aside from each other and they plan to keep it that way. How far will people go to get the intelligent Prince Gumball away from the "bad influence" Marshall Lee?
Relationships: Prince Gumball/Marshall Lee
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27





	1. The Start (Part 1)

A sliver of light shown through the small rectangular window close to the ceiling. This didn't light up much of the room, but that didn't matter because he was wasn't supposed to see anything that was around him anyway. Most of the other windows have been boarded up but that one helped shine a way from the entrance of the door to where they could turn on the lights.

The small boy that laid upon the bed in the far corner of the room stirred awake. He squinted in the dark, not realizing what had awaken him from his fitful sleep. A creek of a flimsy floor board brought him to full consciousness like it did almost every morning since he had been placed down in the small room. He always wished to stay asleep when they came down, but he knew it would only be worse for him if he was.

The heavy footsteps could be heard hitting the floor as the man walked to turn on the blinding lights. Even with more lights the boy still couldn't see the room, as the lights were always aimed directly at him. As the footsteps came closer the small boy could make out a second pair walking slowly down the steps from the door. It was a rare occurrent for both his parents to be down in the room with him at the same time. Normally it would just be his father as his mother didn't like to get her hands dirty.

"Open your eyes wide." No introduction. No hello, how did you sleep. Just an instruction, nothing different than any other morning, but the boy always held out hope for more. The boy faught the urge to squint more against the lights as he did as he was told. "Eyes are getting darker, maybe you were right about needing more light exposure." The man's gruff voice spoke. The boy knew the words weren't for him, but for the figure that still stood near the stairs, not having moved since the last click of her heels against the floor.

"As always." The shadow of the man moved as the woman spoke loudly, or maybe it was just the echo of the room that made it loud. "We can block off one of the higher rooms and stick him in there while we are away." The clicking of heels was heard as she made her way back up the stairs. "Re-administer the treatment and by time he has passed out the room shall be ready." Squeak of the door closing finalized her departure.

"Wise woman, your mother. You should be proud." The father said as his shadow came back into his vision. "Now you know what is to come. Try not to scream this time. You know it annoys me." A sharp object came into his vision and he swallowed a whimper. The boy always hated this treatment the most. He felt finger against his eyelids as they were held open. He was not able to hold his screams this time either.

He clenched his eye closed as the man backed off. "You are a disgrace. No worries though. Soon you will be utter perfection." Scuffling was heard and the lights turned off. "Someone will be down soon to grab you, Prince. You might want to be asleep by then."


	2. Marshall 1

I heard a small whimper as my mind slowly woke from consciousness. As the whimpers got louder I rolled over and swung my arm over Prince's waist knowing if he was having a nightmare it would not end good to wake him up before he's calmed down. I laid there just holding him until I felt his breathing even out more. I slowing withdrew my arm and shook his shoulder slightly. He mumbled as he woke and turned into me, nuzzling closer and inhaling like he just took a breathe of air for the first time. 

“Are you okay, darling?” I whispered into his hair as I ran my hand up and down his back. I felt the slow nod of his head against my chest, making me smile. “Do you want to talk about your dream?” This time a shake, which messed up his hair more than it already was. “Okay. I’m here if you need to talk.” 

We laid there just holding on to each other for what felt like hours, and it probably was. When the alarm went off telling us it was time to get up for school, we reluctantly peeled apart and got out of bed. 

Time to take on the day. 

_________________________________

Gumball and I had always tried to steer clear of others. Nobody really understood how we worked and it was to much of a hassle trying to get people to understand, because no one actually wanted to learn. So obviously a school day was never something that we got through easily. We kept to ourselves and never let people's words get to us. “Freaks!” A small flinch under my arm. Well, I never let the words get to me. Prince was always more terrified of people. 

With how he grew up before we found each other it was kind of understandable for him. Of course walking down a long hall way filled with hormone ridden teens it became coherent that today was not going to be such an easy day to get through. As teens passed, we got shuffled and prodded like experiments. We paid it no mind mostly, that was until Flash entered the picture. 

Flash was new, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that by looking at him. From the moment Flash stepped foot in the school people had treated him like royalty. He was taller than most of the people at the school and kept an ever-present sneer on his face like everyone was below him. It irritated me more than it did Prince as he just wanted to study and get the day over with without any drama. A true nerd if you’ve ever seen one. 

Which just comes to prove that Flash was the biggest bully you could probably meet. He terrified everyone. Well, everyone but me. I could take him on easily if I could keep Prince out of it, but since we never leave each other's side that was impossible. So, when he slammed Gumball into the locker, he was currently grabbing books out of, I wanted nothing more than to slam my fist through his skull. Prince held me back by just my sleeve knowing that’s all it takes for him to stop me from doing anything. 

He grabbed out the rest of the books he needed for class and shut the locker. “He’ll pay for it one day, my prince.” I swung my arm around his shoulder and kissed the top of his curls as we started for our first class. We shared every class much to the dismay of all the teachers. Every year right before the start of school Prince would find a way into the school system and change out people to make sure we had classes together as normally the teachers tried to separate us. 

If he didn’t do that it is very high possibility that he would be in college right now due to how smart he is. Top of our year, just like every year, with no real hardships getting there. He prided himself on his smarts, but not enough to leave me even a year behind him. Not that I couldn’t easily get the grades on my own that he gets, but I, unlike him, don’t much think school is of any use to me. Not when I’m going to be a Rockstar one day. 

Our first class of the day though was psychology, it’s something Prince really wanted to take and, as much as I felt it was stupid as he already knew most of it, I happily agreed with him. It wasn’t a horrible class perse, but the teacher certainly was. She did not even try to hide the fact that she so clearly despised me. 

Ms. Butler was a short pudgy woman with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair that had specks of white that showed her age. A lot of the students came to call her Peppermint the moment they noticed the graying hair. Her first name being Pepper probably didn’t help any. Her voice was slightly high pitched and her laugh sounded more on the evil side than anything, not that you heard her laugh much. 

She was also one of the many teachers at this school that did not believe in assigned seating, which she probably regrets ever saying by now. Prince and I always made it to classes early as to make sure other students didn’t claim seats that would cause us to be separated. We always claimed the seats in the direct center of the classroom as Prince claimed it was the best to see the board, and there was no way I was going to tell him no. 

As the bell rang, students filed into the classroom quickly and stole seats anywhere they could find. The teacher walked in last and closed the door behind her. She walked calmly with her nose in the air to her desk and placed down a pile of papers. She wiped her hands on her pleated skirt and then folded them right below her stomach line. Clearing her throat to get the attention of everyone in the classroom she began her speech as she did every morning. 

I easily toned her out for most of the lesson drawing in my notebook with my left hand while happily holding Prince’s hand with the other as he quickly wrote down any notes needed with his right hand. This was how most of classes went as I wasn’t the best at paying attention, my mind normally wandering within three minutes of the start of class. Prince thinks it’s ADHD which we learned about in this very class near the start of term. No actual classification has been made though I steer clear of any kind doctors. 

Near the end of the period something Peppermint said brought me out of my mind though. “Now next class you will be getting assigned partners to work on your end of term projects. Please start searching for a topic you think would be the best to write about.” With that the bell rang and people started filing out the classroom. I looked at Prince as he slowly placed his notebook back into his backpack before handing said backpack to me to carry. 

I looked towards the front of the classroom and glared at the teacher as she wiped down the board. I knew what she was doing and I couldn’t stand the thought for one second. I felt a tug at my hand and I looked down at Gumball as he pulled me out the classroom. I knew he was just as angry as me by the frown that took away the ever-present smile that always seemed to light up his face normally. I couldn’t be angry right now, I need to bring that smile back, otherwise the school would be needing to find a replacement by next period.


	3. The Start (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to have this out yesterday... but I didn't realize until it half way through that I was typing the wrong chapter up... oops. But here it is the right chapter.

The small boy could tell something was off before he even woke up. The surface under him was softer and warmer than the cold surface he normally woke up on. He slowly blinked his eyes opened but his eyes wouldn't adjust to the bright room. He was surprised when he was able to lift his hand to rub at it. He stared at his hand as the world slowly became clear. He slowly sat up and looked around. A window sat right next to the bed and it had a small lock on it. 

The room had all the same dark colours as his old room did, but this room had more things than he ever seen in his room. The boy dragged the covers off him and turned to get off the bed, his legs giving away almost immediately. He fell back on to the bed with a squeak. His legs not getting much movement when he wasn’t able to move from his bed in his old room. 

He pulled himself back on to the bed and scooted up the bed till he was close to the window. He held on to the edge of the windowsill and pushed himself up once more and looked out among the land in front of him on shaky legs. He didn’t know what anything outside was called, but he thought it was beautiful. He wished he could one day go out there and learn about everything around him. 

He held on to anything within his reach as he tried to pull himself towards the slightly opened door on the other side of the room. He almost fell a few times but he was able to hold himself up for the most part. He pushed the door open wider while holding on to the knob. It looked to have what his father would give him baths in. He hated when his father did though. It was always to hot and made him want run from it and the foamy stuff always stung when it got into his eyes. 

He slowly pulled the door shut, not wanting to have to face the burning sensation again anytime soon. He continued to look around and saw another door a few paces away and staggered over. He tried twisting the handle but it wouldn’t budge more than a fraction and pushing on it didn’t help. He turned is back to it, not bothering to try anymore. 

Nothing else existed in the room around him. There wasn’t a single sound to be made around him, and that scared him. In his room, there was always noise when he was awake. Normally a beeping sound, but in this high up room there wasn’t anything. He whimpered and fell to the floor. He ran his hand over the soft texture below him and started letting the tears flow down his cheeks. 

Everything was different and he didn’t know how to feel about it. He was grateful for no more pain, but he didn’t know anything about this new place. 

He just wanted his room back.


	4. Gumball 1

Our home was a dream come true. It was small, but it was homey. We had decorated it together the moment the keys were in our hands. Before even moving furniture into it we painted the walls; they were originally an off-white and now they were a deep burgundy that made me feel warm. We didn’t have any photos or anything for the walls the whole first year we were here, but now every wall had pictures hanging. Some drawn by Marshall while others taken by a camera we had bought together. 

Walking side by side with Marshall into our home will always give me great joy that probably should’ve went away after the first few times, but no it was still there as always. “What are you smiling about, Gummy?” Marshall said as he snuck passed me through the front door. He walked backwards as he raised a brow at me. I tried to wipe the smile off, but it did not work, it kept coming back. 

“I like our home.” Marshall’s lips quirked up and I shook my head at him. I closed the door behind me and walked towards the kitchen. “I’m going to start on dinner. Do you want anything specific?” I turned my head to look at him and he shook his head. As I prepped everything I needed for dinner I could still feel his eyes on me. I knew that after the news in our first class he would be a bit territorial. He hated us being separated, but he had to realize that a stupid project wouldn’t do any damage. 

We are always attached at the waist when outside. After years of living on the streets we had learned we needed to stick together to survive. Since we met separation is not something we did and we would never. He needed to realize that again. He forgets sometimes, when he’s scared. 

Arms moved around my waist as I chopped some vegetables and I paused. “Yes, Marshall?” He shook his head and buried it in my shoulder. I lifted one hand a swept it through his hair, “I can’t really cut anything with you all over me, my King. Would you like to sit next to me instead?” I felt the sigh more than heard as he let me go and slid on to the floor near my feet. He rested his head against the cabinet doors. 

“They better not try to take you from me.” He mumbled. I hummed, letting him know I was listening as I went back to cutting. “It’s just- The teachers- ugh!” He slammed his head back and it made a loud thumping sound that made me jump. “I’m sorry, Gum. The school just gets on my nerves. Why do they want to separate us so badly? We haven’t done anything wrong!” He slammed his head back again and I dropped the knife on to the cutting board and crouched next to him. 

“Will you stop that? You are going to get yourself hurt!” I exclaimed. I pulled his head toward me to check the back of it and I felt him nuzzle into my shirt. “No bumps or blood, so that’s good. Seriously though stop it.” I stood back up and continued with what I was doing. 

There was no noise from him for the rest of the process of making dinner. He sat on the floor silently with his head down slightly. I would’ve thought he fell asleep if he didn’t keep moving his leg in and out of my way as I went. I set the table up and then called for him. 

We ate silently as well, which was a rare occurrence. He normally tried to get me to laugh throughout the whole meal, saying my laugh made him want to eat more. It made no sense to me, but apparently it did to him. He did up the dishes after as I went to get clothes out for a shower. I heard him enter the room as I closed the drawer. 

“Can I take one with you?” He asked so softly I almost didn’t hear him. “I know you normally don’t like to, but I don’t want to be away from you right now.” He bit his lip and looked anywhere but at me. “Please.” I sighed and walked towards him. He seemed tense, which is something I never wanted him to be around me. 

“Just this once, because I know you need it right now. Don’t abuse this privilege.” He shook his head quickly and I pouted up at him. “Get clothes. I’ll go get the water running, okay?” He nodded and rushed to our dresser. I let out a laugh and made my way to the bathroom. 

After a nice shower where Marshall refused to let me wash my own hair, we were lying in bed. I felt even more at home with my head on his chest and his arms wrapped around me. “Everything will go well tomorrow, Marsh. Just try to get some sleep.” I felt his hands squeeze slightly before relaxing. 

“I love you, my Prince.” 

“I love you, my King.”


	5. The Start (Part 3)

Footsteps once again woke the small boy from his slumber, but they were different. These footsteps didn't sound as heavy as his fathers nor as loud as his mothers. He realized he was still on the floor in front of the unable to open door when the feet stopped on the other side. He heard the sounds of metal clashing together and tried to pull himself away from the door before it opened.

The door creaked open just as he curled slightly out of reach from the door. He stared up at an older woman. "Why are you on the floor?" The soft but stern voice was met with silence as the boy just continued to stare. "Well let's get you back in bed." She leaned down and picked him up easily. The boy started shaking in fear as they walked towards the bed. He didn't know anything of the woman that held him.

Once on the bed, he was covered by the heavy blanket once again. "You need to be careful. Madam and Master would be terribly upset if you got hurt." The boy didn't know if he believed her, but he couldn't say that. He barely even knew how to speak regularly. "Now, I'll be taking care of you for the next few weeks as you parents are out of town. I will be up later to bring you some food. Please do not leave the bed."

She turned around and walked back out the door, shutting it behind her. He gazed at the ceiling, wondering what the food would be. He has never had solid food as his parents have stated it would, "damage his body". Which he never understood what they meant about that. He has seen what his parents would eat though. They would sometimes eat while waiting for the medicines they give him to start working.

The boy continued to stare at the ceiling and think. He never knew what time it was so he didn't know how long he laid there in that unbearable silence once again. His thoughts kept spiraling from what he was to eat to where his parents have gone. He saw them normally everyday, so he didn't understand why they have left.

Once the bright light that came through the window started to dim he heard the same footsteps again before they stopped once again outside the room. There was the sound of some struggling before the door finally swung open revealing the same woman, but this time she was carrying a tray. He only ever seen one of those next to his bed in his other room; it normally held strange thin medal objects that caused him pain.

This tray though held a round dish that had smoke coming from it. The woman sat it on the table next to the bed, on the side without the window. "Now your mother has said that your stomach may not be able to handle solids, so I fixed up some soup for you." She took a spoon from next to the bowl and scooped some of the heated liquid from it. She blew on it softly before holding the spoon towards his mouth. 

"Now open your mouth. Be careful it is hot still." He did as told not wanting to see what would happen if she angered her. He remembers how his parents react when he didn't do what they told him too. "Good job." She said as the warm liquid slid down his throat. It made his body tingle some what. His stomach let out a rumble noise as the delicious food met it. "Seems you are definitely hungry." Her voice had an even softer tint to it for just a second before she brought the spoon back to the bowl.

This continue until the bowl was completely empty. "Good job. Now let's get you a bath so you can go back to sleep." Dread filled his body at the words she spoke and he held back a whimper.

No crying. That is what his father always said before he was bathed by him. He thought he had did good by the woman why would she punish him like this.

"I'll go draw the bath and be right back for you." She rose from the bed and walked towards the door that held the tub. He couldn't see her as he heard the water start pouring. He looked up and noticed the door that she had originally came through was still opened. He looked back at the door where the woman was as he slowly flung his legs out of the bed.

He held onto the covers as he slowly made his way to the foot of it. He looked back to where he still heard water coming not seeing her yet he did the one thing he could think of. He let go of the bed and slowly moved his feet one in front of the other focusing mostly on not falling. As he reached the door he looked back once more.

"Okay I think it's ready." Was the last thing he heard from the woman before he bolted out the door. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew if he stayed he would be forced into the tub. He didn't want to be in pain anymore.

He let his feet take him down hallways, almost falling multiple times, and through doors, and down stairs until he finally went through one that showed him the beauty of the tall green things he saw out his window just that morning. He took a second to look around before he continued to run.

He got out. He's outside. That's all he ever wanted.

He didn't know how long he was running for, but when he finally stopped, collapsing onto the ground under him, it was dark. Pitch black. He looked up and for the first time saw a big white light in the sky. He stared at it for so long that he didn't even hear the footsteps that came up to him.

"Hi. Are you okay?"


	6. Marshall 2

“Good morning, Class.” Ms. Pepper said as she took her spot at the front of the classroom. “Now as I stated last class, I will be pairing you up today for your projects.” She grabbed a dry erase marker from the holder on her desk and uncapped it. “Now I did decide to choose the pairs a little differently. To give you each a chance to pair with your friends, I’m am going to pull names from a bowl.” 

Everyone else cheered. Prince and I knew this wasn’t any better. No matter what there is a very low chance we will get put together. I wouldn’t be surprised that one of our names wasn’t even in the bowl. 

She held up the bowl for a moment before putting it back on her desk and drawing out the first name. She did this and wrote down the pairs as she went. “Marshall and Ashley.” I knew it wouldn’t happen, but it still hurts not hearing my name paired with Prince’s. My leg starts bouncing really quickly as she finishes off the people. I was so strung up that I didn’t even hear Prince’s name or who he was paired with. 

She went on to telling us what to do for the project and how we get credit for everything. I was so angry with this teacher all I wanted to do was scream, but I held it all in. I couldn’t just start yelling at a teacher; I tried before, but Prince had stopped me. 

“Now, you will get the rest of this class and all of the next two classes to work on this in class. Anything you don’t finish in class will need to be done outside of the classroom. You will have a month to do this assignment.” Not only do we have to work with others in class, she expects us to do it outside of school too. She really wants me to hit her. “Now go-ahead and get in your pairs and start talking about what you would like to do for your project.” 

People started getting up and moving around while Prince and I stayed in our seats. Two girls soon came to sit in front of us, pushing another pair to move seats. They were all smiles and batting their eyelashes like the whole school didn’t already know that both of us are in a committed relationship with each other. 

“So, Prince, what do you think our project should be on?” To my amusement, he just stared at her, like she had said nothing at all. Her smiled faded a bit, which made a choked laugh leave my throat. She turned towards me and glared. 

“Prince doesn’t talk. Most people know that by now.” I smirked and wrapped my arm around Gumball’s shoulders to pull his seat closer. I saw him look down out of the corner of my eye and I squeezed his shoulder for comfort. 

“We see him talking to you all the time.” Ashley, my supposed partner for this project, spoke to me like I was insane. I glared at her and clenched my fist under the table. 

“Yeah. No one gets the pleasure of hearing his voice, but me. So, any questions for the project can be directed towards me.” Prince grabbed his pen from the table and started to write as the girl’s just continued to stare at me. I kept my glare pointed towards the two until he slid a paper across to me. I looked down at it and read what he put. “Our project should be on depression, while Prince’s will be on anxiety. Sound good?” 

“No, actually. Everyone will be doing those. We should do one that no one really will, Prince. How about co-dependence?” She tried to look him in the eye but he kept his head down. Prince shook his head quickly, but she was already looking away. “I’ll go let the teacher know what we decided, come with Ash?” They both got up as Prince stared at their retreating backs in horror. 

I knew he didn’t like this topic, but now he had no choice. He looked close to tears and as he saw them walking back both carrying a packet of paper, he turned and buried his face in my neck. I laid my hand on top of his head and glared at the girls as they sat back down. 

“So we are doing ours on mutism and Prince and Fiona are doing theirs on co-dependencing.” Mutism? Seriously? These girls were trying to get hit I swear. I felt Prince’s breath catch for a second. They were trying to target him or something. These girls are going to pay for hurting my Prince. 

The bell rang right after and the girls simply got up and left as I continued to hold onto Prince. Once they left, I tapped his arm and he lifted his head. I could see tears getting ready to go down his face, but he was holding them back. “Let’s go to the bathroom before next class. Okay, Gummy?” He nodded and we stood up. I grabbed all his stuff and put it in his bag before walking out; still holding him close to me.


	7. The Start (Part 4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post last weekend. Christmas was overwhelming. But here is the new chapter.

A boy with long dark hair kneeled in front of him, the small boy just stared up at him from the ground. The dark-haired boy tilted his head sideways when he got no reply. “You okay?” He tried again. He held his hand low enough from the boy’s face as to not scare him. “Do you need help up?” The boy shook his head slowly and pushed off the ground only to fall back over right into the other boy’s chest. 

“Woah. Seems like you did need help.” A soft sound came from his mouth that the small boy didn’t understand. It wasn’t words, just a sound, but for some reason it made the small boy feel safe. He never felt a feeling like this. 

He once again tried to stand on his own but, just like the first time, his legs gave out and he fell back against the boy before him. The small sound came from him again, but this time louder. “Okay grab on to my hands. Let’s teach you how to walk again.” More of that sound came out, but it lasted longer than the others. 

The other child slowly stood up carefully, holding firmly to the smaller one. The latter made sure to hold tight to the taller ones hands as his legs felt hollow. “Okay. Move one leg at a time. Try moving your left one first and once that one is back on the ground move your right one.” The taller one made sure to keep eye contact with the other as he slowly tried getting the boy to walk easily. “We’ll just try to walk to the slide for now” 

The smaller one was confused on what a slide was, but continued to follow the others lead. The bright white light was even higher in the sky when they reached the slide. The boy had fallen a few more times trying to walk, but every time the other would just calmly help him up and they would continue. They sat under the slide as the tall boy dug through a small bag that hung from a small hook that was attached to the bottom of the slide. 

He held out a handful of small orange fish shaped things. “It’s food.” Is all he said at the small ones confused face. A small hand reached out and grabbed a single one out of his hand and sniffed it. “Don’t smell it! Eat it!” The small sound happened again. He took a small bite out of the already small food and his eyes widened. He quickly reached for another one. 

The sound was louder this time after he had shoved five of the treats all in his mouth at once a chewed as his lips tilted upwards. Once the taller one had calmed down the two sat quietly for a while. After a few more of the orange food he ate, his stomach started to hurt and so he stopped eating them. That caused the other boy to stare at him for a second. 

“What’s your name?”


	8. Gumball 2

“I hate those two so much!” Marshall growled after he made sure the bathroom was clear. “I swear if they say one more thing that makes you cry they are going to get punched!” He kicked one of the stall doors which made me squeak and back up into the wall. I guess he heard me because he turned around and his shoulders sagged as the anger washed from his face as quilt took over. “I’m sorry, Sweetie.” 

He walked slowly toward me as I just stared at him. He held his hands toward me as he stopped just a few steps away. He knows me so well. Knows not to touch me when I get afraid. He waits just like always until I slowly reach my hand out and grab his hands. He pulled me towards him and his arms wrapped securely around me. I finally fully relaxed as I breathe in his scent. 

“I hate them too, but please don’t do anything. Let’s just get the project done so we don’t have to talk to them anymore.” I whispered into his chest, hoping he heard me. I could feel his head nod before what felt like a kiss hit my hair. “Can we go to class? I want the day to hurry up and end.” 

“Yeah.” His voice sounded rough and when I looked up I could see the tears he was holding back. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” I smiled at him. “You know I would never hurt you. Right?” I nodded without a second thought. He smiled and inhaled deeply. He pulled back to go to the wall where he originally threw my bag. 

He swung the bag over his shoulder before walking back to me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders leading us out. Few people were still in the hallways. Most of them rushing to switch books from their lockers to their bags before the late bell rang. We head to our next class in silence. 

\---------------- 

“We need to stop and get some groceries before we head home.” I whisper to myself as I exchange my books for what I need to do homework tonight. Marshall is standing next to me looking over the crowd of students. His hand was firmly placed on my shoulder. I close the locker door right as Marshall’s hand tighten. I look towards him and saw him glaring at something behind me. I turned fully around to see Ash and Fiona walking towards us. I squeaked and curled more towards Marshall, his arm dropping to wrap around my waist. 

“Hey.” Ash said, drawing out the end as she smiled up at Marshall. My eyes narrowed at her. What does she think she is doing? “So, when would you like to meet up to do the project?” She twirled a piece of hair around her finger. She was chewing on something as she spoke which just made me want gag. She really shouldn’t talk while chewing. 

“We’ll just do it in class with the time she gives us.” Marshall said easily, like his arm wasn’t slowly tightening around me. I didn’t really mind as it made me feel safer when he did that. The two girls exchanged looks before looking back at Marshall. 

“We don’t think we’ll be able to finish this in only two class periods.” Fiona sounded annoyed, but she can be annoyed all she wants. “We’re going to need to meet up outside of class to exchange information.” Her hand held her hip that pushed out slightly. Her short-painted nails looked to be clawing her shirt. 

“You can do your own research and hand it to us before class starts after that if needed. We shouldn’t need the whole month to do this assignment either.” Marshall let out a short laugh that made it sound like he was ready to punch someone. Which wouldn’t be best to do in the middle of the hallway. I reached my hand up slightly to grab on to the hem of Marshall’s shirt. I pulled on it slowly and he looked down at me. 

I could see Ash glare at me from the corner of my eye as I leaned up on my toes to whisper in his ear, “We need to go to the store.” I flattened my feet as I saw him nod at me. I looked towards the ground as he took my backpack from me like always. 

“Well, we got to get going. Things we got to do.” He started pulling me down the hall, not even waiting for a response from the two girls. “Those two really thought that a little hair twirling was going to distract us? They are such idiots.” He laughed quietly causing me to giggle. He stopped me right outside the gates of the school. I felt his hand grab my chin and lift my head up. His lips met mine easily and I wrapped both my arms around his shoulders. 

“Don’t worry, Gummy. If they try anything, they will pay. I promise.” He spoke against my lips making me smile wide. 

“Thank you.”


	9. The Start (Part 5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait.

The taller kid soon noticed that the small one couldn’t speak and so continued on like he had never asked the question. “I’m Marshall. Marshall Lee. Which I believe is really cool.” He started drawing in the dirt as he continued to chat. “My mom left me here at this park, so I have made it my kingdom. I’m king here, so you can be my queen.” He small one made a questionable face at Marshall as he tilted his head. Marshall laughed at his confusion. “What? You can’t be king because that’s me so obviously the position for you would be queen. Like they always say, ‘A King always needs a Queen.’”

The smaller one smiled at him and nodded like he completely agreed with Marshall even if he didn’t really understand what the other boy was saying.

\-------------------------

Running was easier once Marshall was able to teach him to walk. They ran all the time now. Sometimes for fun and sometimes to escape. He wasn’t as fast as the other yet but he was still faster than the store clerks that hurled rude words at them. ‘We just wanted food. Don’t know why they are so rude about it.’ Queen thought to himself. He didn’t understand a lot of things that Marshall apparently thought was a normal thing. Mostly human interactions.

Sometimes though Marshall would come sliding to a stop at their slide, after leaving Queen alone for a bit, obviously out of breath and just plop something into Queen’s lap. Marshall liked getting his Queen gifts. His very first gift being Queen’s name. Since Queen hadn’t been able to talk and didn’t seem to even know what his name was Marshall had gladly dubbed him Queen. It had soon turned into books once Marshall had noticed Queen was trying to read signs and posters that littered the streets of their town. Queen didn’t know what many of the words were, but Marshall always helped to sound out words that Queen didn’t understand.

That is where Queen’s favorite of all the gifts came in. A dictionary. Marshall found it funny how much Queen loved the book. Anytime Marshall didn’t know what a word meant Queen would pull it out and search for it. Marshall didn’t understand why Queen loved knowing these things, but every book and new word put a bright smile on his Queen’s face and so he continued to bring him anything he could get his hands on.

Queen loved every one of them and a year later he was able to read book relatively easy.

A year. A whole year of no dark basements, which Queen had learned from a book was what his old room was, and no pain. He was happy. Happy with Marshall. Even if nothing came easily and he still couldn’t eat a lot of solid foods at once nor has he figured out quite how to speak yet. He was happy and that is what mattered.

Of course that meant everything had to come crashing down. A missing persons poster took up the streets. A year after he ran they now wanted to try finding him.

MISSING KID: PRINCE B. GUMBALL

IF SEEN PLEASE CALL THE NUMBER LISTED BELOW.

(###) ### - ####

Underneath was a picture of him. He doesn’t remember that picture ever being taken, but crazier things has happened in his basement room. He started freaking out when he seen the poster. Marshall tore one down and folded it before storing it in his pocket. He knelt in front of Queen and waited for Queen to hop on his back. Marshall made a quick dash for their slide before anyone noticed the young boy was the one that was missing.

‘I’m Scared’ Queen wrote in the sand as Marshall hugged Queen to his chest from behind him. Marshall tightened his hold before letting go and moving to kneel on one knee in front of Queen.

“Never fear. They will never get passed me because a king always protects his queen.” He held a hand to his heart as he bowed his head slightly at Queen. Queen smiled at him before tapping him on his head. Marshall had a wide grin as he lifted his head back up. “I will never let them take you from me.”


End file.
